Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale review: The best way to track your weight on iPhone and iPad

Withings is a simple, beautiful way to keep track of your weight and BMI right on your iPhone or iPad and achieve your health goals!

The Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale brings new, highly mobile technology to bear on an age old task -- keeping track of your weight over time. We've had scales in one form or another for years. The old analog scales that you stepped on and watched the needle move across the numbers in joy or horror. The big, white doctor's scale that they tapped into place to measure both height and weight. The digital scales with the big red numbers that held your hopes in their flashing lights. Those all measured our weight, but they didn't keep track of our weight. We were left to scribble or type in the measurements on our own, and as we all know, the requirement for manual recording creates a remarkable point of failure.

Withings does all that heavy lifting for you. You set it up, step on it, and it records everything you need, and sends it to your iPhone or iPad for easy tracking at any time. And it isn't just limited to tracking your weight. It can track your whole family.

The set up part is easy and the instructions clear and concise. There's some assembly required, mainly attaching the little plastic feet. Then you plug in the scale to your computer over USB, setup the Wi-Fi connection, create a Withings account, and you're good to go. Each Withings scale can handle up to 8 family members or users, and for privacy reasons each can have his or her own account.

Once you're set up, just start using it as you would any traditional scale. Now, it does take a while to give a reading, sometimes a little too long. It measures your BMI (Body Mass Index) as well as your weight. Though these aren't the most accurate types of BMI readings, the consistency and convenience easily overcome those concerns.

Since this is an online product, Withings of course has all the social sharing options you'd expect. You can choose to share with no one, or if you so choose, with your doctor, personal training, or even the entire world via Twitter. While I supposed public sharing might encourage you through peer pressure, it's not something I'd ever turn on. Smartly, privacy is well considered overall by Withings. For example, you may see people Tweeting their Withings weight, but it's not enabled by default.

Withins also works with a good variety of other, popular health and fitness apps and services, including Fitbit, Gym Technik, Run Keeper, Weightbot, Endomondo, their own WiScale app, and many others. Along with goal setting -- and an understand of how to set realistic, attainable goals -- this helps you keep yourself accountable, stay motivated, and get healthier.

The good

Makes tracking your weight and BMI a breeze

Supports up to 8 users with good privacy controls

Accessible from iPhone, iPad, and web

No subscriptions or recurring costs

Works with many other popular services and accessories

Stunning looking

The bad

Not the most accurate form of BMI measure

Costs more than a regular scale (obviously)

The bottom line

If you care about tracking your weight and your BMI, then the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale is absolutely the best way to do it. It's easy to set up, stunningly good looking, and interfaces not only with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, but with a lot of other popular health and fitness services and equipment as well. Taking care of yourself is hard enough. Eat right, sleep right, and exercise hard. Let Withings take care of keeping track and keeping you on track.

Senior Editor at iMore and a practicing therapist specializing in stress and anxiety. She speaks everywhere from conferences to corporations, co-host of Vector, Review, and Isometric podcasts, and should be followed on Twitter @Georgia_Dow.

Little costly, but if your working with a health coach, works well. I would weigh once every four days, as weight loss, can fool you. Just because you are not loosing weight, does not mean your not loosing inches. The main thing is to stick to one scale.

The Aria will do weight, BMI, and Body Fat % and is designed specifically to work with the FitBit website. For those of us that use a FitBit tracker and have gotten comfortable with the FitBit website, the Aria is a no-brainer over the Withings.

I wanted one of these but the cost was too high, a nice alternative a $30 scale from amazon and the myfitnessgoal app where you can just enter your weight. when these go down to $49.99 I'll be ready to get one.

The whole obsession with weight is part of the problem. Don't focus on what you weigh, eat well and exercise etc., and the weight will take care of itself. In other words, the goal is to be healthy and fit, not to reach some ideal weight or size.

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David,Nice to hear we share the same experience. If you're like me, then I'll bet your abs looked great with overhead lighting and when you laid down as well. Keeping body fat low is challenging, so congrats on achieving that goal.